There are a host of new cookbooks out there to put local farm-raised fruits and vegetables to good use. One is Joyce Lamont’s Favorite Minnesota Recipes & Radio Memories, which is full of timely hints like this one: For more flavorful corn on the cob, add a tablespoon of sugar and a tablespoon of lemon juice to a pot of cold water before bringing it to a boil and adding the ears of corn.
I loved meeting Bob Spitz after reading his novel, The Saucier’s Apprentice, about his travels to the great cooking schools in Europe. The book is also sprinkled with some of the recipes he brought back, including a cherry-tomato-and-basil-pasta sauce that’s perfect for end-of-summer entertaining.
If you haven’t yet, you need to visit Nick & Eddie (1612 Harmon Pl., Minneapolis, 612-486-5800) for their fresh-baked New York bialy. Pastry chef/owner Jessica Anderson and her staff serve the bread with chef/owner Steve Vranian’s smoked-white-fish salad and house-cured salmon. With or without the fish, the bialys are one of the Twin Cities restaurant scene’s “must try” foods. (I, for one, like my bialy sliced, toasted, and buttered.)
Hope to see you at the Minnesota State Fair. I’ll be at the Tejas celebrity guacamole tastings—in the Garden at the corner of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street—and at my Food for Thought live broadcasts from the WCCO booth.
Sue Zelickson is host of WCCO’s Food for Thought.